Joby Aviation is ramping up eVTOL aircraft production at its pilot manufacturing facility in Marina, California, where the company completed a massive expansion project last month. Once the site becomes fully operational, it will be capable of producing 24 aircraft per year, or about one every two weeks, according to Joby.
Meanwhile, the company’s first scaled manufacturing plant is also coming together in Ohio. It has leased and renovated an old U.S. Postal Service air mail facility at Dayton International Airport, where it intends to eventually produce up to 500 aircraft per year in partnership with Toyota.
For now, Joby is preparing to use the Dayton facility to build components that will support production and assembly activities in Marina. The company has begun installing manufacturing equipment at the new Dayton plant and intends to begin production there this summer.
Announcing the completion of its Marina expansion on July 15, Joby also formally introduced N545JX, the sixth member of its JAS4-1 eVTOL test fleet and the latest to roll off the production line. FlightAware tracking data shows the aircraft made its first flights from Marina on June 6.
“Reimagining urban mobility takes speed, scale, and precision manufacturing. Our expanded manufacturing footprint in both California and Ohio is preparing us to do just that,” said Joby chief product officer Eric Allison. “We celebrated the opening of the new facility with the flight of our sixth aircraft, which earned airworthiness certification within a week of completion.”
N545JX is likely to become one of the five aircraft that Joby intends to use for FAA type inspection authorization testing in early 2026, when the company hopes to get the four-passenger aircraft FAA-certified and ready to begin commercial air taxi services in major U.S. cities such as New York City and Los Angeles. However, it appears increasingly likely that Joby will launch services in Dubai before obtaining FAA type certification. The company began flight testing in Dubai last month.
In addition to aircraft production and flight testing, the newly expanded 435,500 sq ft campus in Marina will also support Joby’s pilot training activities with a new flight simulation center. It will also house an expanded maintenance facility that will support initial training for aircraft technicians.
Joby estimates that the Marina expansion will create 690 additional full-time jobs in California by 2027. The company currently employs more than 2,000 people worldwide and grew its workforce by 11% in 2024, according to its 2024 Environmental, Social, and Governance Report published on July 22.